Mooring buoy



H. E. PHILLIPS MOORING BUOY Nov. 26, 1957 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Feb.14, 1955 INVENTOR. HERMONEHIILLIPS,

ATTORNEY.

Nov. 26, 1957 H. E. PHILLIPS 2,814,054

- MOORING BUOY Filed Feb. 14, 1955 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 I INVENTOR. HERMONHflLuPs,

A TKOKNEY United States Patent MOORING BUOY Hermon E. Phillips, Angola,Ind.

Application February 14, 1955, Serial No. 487,739

2 Claims. (Cl. 9-8) This invention relates to a buoy which finds itsprimary utility as a mooring buoy for use in tethering a boat or otherfloating craft.

A primary object of this invention is to provide a sturdy mooring buoywhich is relatively simple in con struction, dependable in use andeconomical to manufacture.

A further important object of this invention is to provide a mooringbuoy which can be quickly and easily dismantled so as to occupycomparatively little space during storage and transportation thereof.

A further object is to provide an extremely inexpensive buoy soconstructed as to minimize the hazard of damage to such craft or to thebuoy as a result of collision.

Further objects of the invention will become apparent as the descriptionproceeds.

To the accomplishment of the above and related objects, my invention maybe embodied in the forms illustrated in the accompanying drawings,attention being called to the fact, however, that the drawings areillustrative only, and that change may be made in the specificconstructions illustrated and described, so long as the scope of theappended claims is not violated.

Fig. 1 is a transverse section of one embodiment of my invention;

Fig. 2 is a top view of the embodiment shown in Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a perspective view of the embodiment shown in Fig. 1, the buoybeing shown in operative relationship with a boat and anchor chain;

Fig. 4 is a side view of a portion of the spider means of anotherembodiment of my invention; and

Fig. 5 is a side view partly in section of another embodiment of myinvention.

Referring more particularly to the drawings, it will be seen that I haveprovided a main supporting frame, here shown in the form of a spider 1.The spider has two crossed arms, joined at their centers, and eachcarrying, at each end, an outwardly-opening, concave seat member 4, saidseat members being arranged in a peripheral series as is most clearlyindicated in Figs. 2 and 3. The arms and seats may be of any suitablematerial such as metal or plastic. Return bent portions 5 and 6 definethe outer extremities of the seats 4. Passing through an opening at thecenter of each of straps 2 and 3 is a post in the form of a threadedeye-bolt 7 with eye portion 8, to which a painter or the like isattached, being uppermost. Nuts 9 and 10 clamp straps 2 and 3 to eachother in longitudinally adjustable position on the threaded portion ofthe eye-bolt. Swivelly secured to the lower portion of the eye-bolt 7 isa ring 11 held in adjusted position by means of nut 12 backed by acotter pin 13. Ring 11 provides means for connection to an anchor chain21 or the like.

Spaced radially inwardly from the radially outer extremities of each ofthe straps of the embodiments shown in Figs. 1 through 3 and 5,respectively, is a transversely extending rib in the form of an upwardlybent protuberice ance 14. A brightly-colored, plastic or sheet metal,conical member 15 may be provided which abuts the radially inner edge ofeach of the ribs 14 at its base and is secured by nut 16 at its top.Obviously, as the nut 16 is turned down on the bolt 7, it tends tospread the base of member 15 into secure engagement with the ribs 14.

Mounted in the peripherally arranged set of seats 4 is an annular member17. This member is hollow and flexible, and by actuation of a suitablepump connected to valve 18 may be inflated to flex seats 4 to tightlysecure it in the seats. Annular member 17 may take the form of anordinary automobile tire inner tube, or a specially manufacturedair-tight bag in the form of a toroid. Still another form which theannular member may take is illustrated in Fig. 5, wherein the annularmember is shown as being an inner tube 25 enclosed within a conventionalautomobile tire casing 26. Since, in each embodiment of the invention,the extreme radial periphery of the buoy is formed by a flexible,inflated annulus, damage to the buoy or the tethered craft due tocollision is minimized.

Fig. 3 shows the embodiment of Fig. 1 with ring 11 connected to ananchor chain 21 and eye 8 connected to boat painter 19 which, in turn,is secured to boat 20 to hold it against drifting.

In Fig. 4, the spider arrangement of another embodiment of my inventionis illustrated. In this embodiment two substantially straight, flatstraps 22 (one of which is shown in Fig. 4) are provided which arecrossed and receive a post through an opening at their respectivecenters as in the previous embodiment. Seat members are formed byoutwardly facing concave straps 24, 24 which are secured in overlappingrelation to the upper surface of straps 22 by any suitable means such asspot-welding indicated at 23 or rivets indicated at 23'. In thisembodiment, straps 24, 24 may be of a diiferent material, or the samematerial as, that of straps 2 and 3. By way of example, the seats may beof spring brass. Protuberances for the reception of the base of conicalmember 15 are provided in this embodiment by the inner, transverselyextending edges 14, 14 of the overlapping portion of straps 24, 24. Asin each of the other disclosed embodiments, the upper and lowerextremities of each of the seat members are defined by return bentportions 5 and 6, respectively. The spider arrangement of thisembodiment can be used to accommodate any of the several forms ofinflatable annuli herein disclosed.

I claim as my invention:

1. A device of the class described comprising a spider means havingradially-extending arms and providing a series of peripherally-spaced,outwardly-facing concave seats, a flexible, inflatable annulus supportedin said se-- ries of seats, a post centrally supported on said spidermeans, said post having means at the lower portion for attachment toanchor means and means at the upper portion for attachment to a painter,a plurality of transverse ribs on said spider means, and an upright,hollow conical member provided with an opening at its center, saidopening surrounding said post, and the base of the conical member beingin engagement with each of said ribs.

2. The device of claim 1 wherein each of said seats is formed by a strapreturn bent adjacent its upper portion and extending radially inwardlyin overlapping, fixed relation to the end portion of its associated arm,said overlapping portion of each of the straps terminating in a verticaledge to form said ribs.

Richard Sept. 10, 1895 Davidson July 26, 1932

